


A Day in the Life

by rotKaiserin



Series: modern joker [3]
Category: Joker Game (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Gen, Hints of Past Sakuma/Miyoshi, Implied Amari/Tazaki, Minor Fukumoto/Odagiri, Minor Hatano/Jitsui, Minor Kaminaga/Miyoshi, Present Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 11:31:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8284319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rotKaiserin/pseuds/rotKaiserin
Summary: Sakuma doesn't know why he hangs out with these guys.(alt: Sakuma's suffering knows no end.)





	1. gekkan shoujo jitsui-kun

**Author's Note:**

> ~~two weeks counts as "a while" right?? *sweats nervously*~~
> 
> aah so after my last fic I kinda wanted to do something focusing on Sakuma and also sort of do a relationship study with him in the other spies, but I also wanted something more lighthearted, so this was born~ This also was just written to help make myself feel better so there's that haha i love my son sakuma but not enough apparently lolol
> 
> anyways man this has no business being like 7k+ words, so I've split this up into chapters to make everything easier on you guys orz
> 
> This first chapter is also crossposted on my [tumblr](http://dollofdeath.tumblr.com/post/151817557667/a-day-in-the-life-15)! Thanks for reading, I hope you guys enjoy~! ヾ(*'▽'*)

"Save yourself, Sakuma!" aren't exactly the first words Sakuma wants to hear when he drops by Hatano and Jitsui's place.

As soon as Jitsui opens the door for Sakuma, Hatano jumps up from the kotatsu, scattering various art supplies onto the floor and sending their cat Yoru scrambling away. His eyes are sunken in, like he hasn't seen the light of day in years, and his bangs are haphazardly tied up, with strands of hair flying all over his face. In contrast, Jitsui smiles politely even if there are dark rings underneath his eyes.

"Sakuma," Jitsui says, ignoring Hatano's outburst. "What brings you here?"

"Uh..."

In the background, Hatano gestures wildly, pointing towards the window and making running motions. Sakuma almost forgets he's talking to Jitsui.

"Uh, right, Odagiri told me to give this to you."

He hands him the bag, which Jitsui accepts. Upon seeing the contents, which are just pens and ink as far as Sakuma knows, he beams.

"Thank you for delivering these. They'll be very helpful." He looks up at him. "Why don't you come in? I'll make you some tea."

Hatano looks like he's fighting off a bee at this point.

"I don’t want to impose --"

"Oh, I insist."

Even if he's on the smaller side, Jitsui's grip is iron tight. Sakuma finds himself inside their apartment before he can even blink and Jitsui locks the door faster than he can say "Pardon the intrusion." Hatano's interpretive dance ends with a grimace and he plops back down onto the floor. Yoru returns, staring at Sakuma with wide eyes.

"Here, take a seat," Jitsui says once he's finished taking off his shoes. He leads him not-so-gently to the kotatsu and pushes him down across Hatano.

 _You're fucked_ Hatano mouths at him. Sakuma raises an eyebrow.

"Sakuma, do you know how to beta?" Jitsui asks.

"Beta?"

"It's really easy. Take this."

Jitsui shoves some pens and papers in his direction. Sakuma hesitates on taking them, but Jitsui edges him on. The pens feel strange in his hand and he holds the papers carefully, not wanting to smudge the drawings on it. Looking closer at the papers, it appears that they're pages of a manga --

He meets Hatano's eyes. He understands now.

"Jitsui!" Hatano's voice lacks his usual fire, only sounding exasperated and tired. "Sakuma doesn't know what to do. Why don't you just let him go?"

Jitsui's smile hardens as he turns to Hatano.

"We have a deadline to meet, Hatano. I need all the man power I can get." He then takes on a colder tone. "Now work on the damn backgrounds or else I'll punish you for every minute we're late!"

Much to Sakuma's surprise, Hatano doesn't fight back. Instead, he sighs like a man who's accepted his fate a long time ago. He picks up the pens and markers that had fallen off earlier, looks at Sakuma ( _This is what's in your immediate future_ is what his eyes seem to say, with a hint of _End me right now_ ), then resumes his work. From what Sakuma can see, the backgrounds look gorgeous. He's never thought Hatano to be so artistic.

"Basically, all you have to do is ink everything in," Jitsui says to him, his previous calm demeanor returning. "I'll show you."

He picks up one of the pens, grabs one of the pages, and starts. Sakuma tries to follow along, but Jitsui's hand glides across the panel too quickly for him. Before he knows it, the panel is complete, ready for the background and screentones.

"Do you get that?"

Sakuma nods, but he doesn't. He doesn't get anything.

"Perfect. I'll go make some tea."

Sakuma never gets any tea.

* * *

"Sakuma, you're only on the fifteenth page!? You're slowing us down, you idiot! I didn't let you stay so you could laze around!"

"Hatano, what is this!? I told you I need to invoke a gritty feel, not this sugary sweet crap!"

"Sakuma, why aren't you moving!? I told you, no breaks! We have three hours until the deadline, move your damn hands!"

Sakuma wants to cry, but if he does, he'll only ruin the pages he's worked on so far. That'll result in not only more tears, but Jitsui's wrath. So he sucks it up, even though his hand cramps badly, his eyesight grows bleary, and he wants nothing more than to be free again.

"How do you do this all the time?" Sakuma asks Hatano when Jitsui leaves the room to get more pencils and paper. He doesn't pause in his work though, fearing that Jitsui has eyes all over the place and will kill him if he stops again.

Hatano looks up at him, hands still working but a blank expression on his face. His usually droopy eyes are glazed over and his bangs have mostly fallen out of his hair ties, covering his face like Sadako's hair from _Ring_. He either doesn't notice this or doesn't care.

"I'm dead inside."

"Ah."

That's all the explanation he needs.

"What is this!?" Jitsui yells upon returning. "This is no time for chit-chat! Move, move, move!"

Sakuma also feels dead inside.

* * *

They finish with about twenty minutes left to spare and Sakuma's never felt so relieved in his life. It's difficult to uncurl his fingers, it hurts to keep his eyes open, and there’s a static-y feeling in his legs, but he's done it. He's survived.

"Thank you very much for your help, Sakuma. I really appreciate it."

It takes a couple of seconds for Jitsui's words to register but when they do, he groggily looks up. Yoru lays stretched out on the table top with Hatano's face buried in his fur. Yoru doesn't seem to mind it though, like it's a regular occurrence. To his side, Jitsui looks genuinely pleased as he gathers all the pages together.

"No problem." He hears himself speak, but he can't tell if he's truly speaking.

"Do you want anything before you go? Like tea or some snacks?"

Offers of tea again.

He lets out a shaky breath before looking out the window. When he arrived, the sun was high in the sky but now it's nowhere to be seen. He vaguely remembers he has some other things to attend to like his laundry, finding a birthday gift for his mom, and living in general.

"No," he says, slowly regaining his senses. "I'm good."

"Oh well. I'll see you to the door."

Jitsui moves at lightning speed in comparison to him, but it seems that he pities him and waits patiently for him. Sakuma's knees creak and his back cracks as he stands up. He stumbles over, having lost feeling in his feet a long time ago.

"I'll see you around, Hatano."

Hatano's face remains buried in Yoru's fur and he makes no noise, but he waves weakly at him. Yoru meows. _You did well,_ he imagines is what he's saying, but then he thinks he's truly lost it if he's imagining a cat talking to him.

"Thanks again, Sakuma." Jitsui smiles.  "Have a safe trip home."

Sakuma manages to smile back even though he can't feel his facial muscles. Then the door closes and he just stands there, his legs refusing to cooperate with him. As tremors rack throughout his body, Sakuma vows he's going to avoid visiting Hatano and Jitsui at all costs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd like to thank gsnk for teaching me everything i know about making a manga wwww  
> i'd also like to thank the drama CDs for giving me mangaka!jitsui because it's the best thing that's ever happened to me lmao
> 
> For future reference (and this will be relevant ever so briefly at the end), I've based Jitsui's manga off of _Kamen Rider Gaim_ (i haven't seen it yet lol), a show written by Gen Urobuchi (writer of _Madoka_ and _Psycho Pass_ ). I feel like Jitsui would really like Urobuchi's works LOL but aah, I didn't want to reference anything too popular?? but yeah, just a fun fact ^o^
> 
> onwards~


	2. walk, walk, fashion baby

Despite how drained he feels, Sakuma goes out to the mall the next day. His mother's birthday is fast approaching and he still doesn't have a gift. She insists that he doesn't need to get her anything, but that only motivates him to buy her something really amazing.

He wanders around the mall without a clue as to which store to go to and that's when he runs into Miyoshi. Or at least, he thinks it's Miyoshi, because Miyoshi would never willingly hold all those shopping bags himself. Although with the way he looks like a grumpy cat, it's probably not so willingly.

"Miyoshi?"

A grin replaces Miyoshi's frown at the sight of him.

"Sakuma. You're just the man I'm looking for.” He throws at least six shopping bags into Sakuma's arms. “Hold this.”

He stumbles back, trying to keep all of them from falling over. The amount of bags in his arms forces him to tilt his head in an uncomfortable position to even look at Miyoshi, who brightens up considerably now that his hands are empty. It reminds him of when they were dating and Miyoshi would drag him on his shopping trips. He doesn't particularly miss those.

"What brings you here, Sakuma?"

"I'm just looking for a gift for my mom."

"Her birthday's coming up, isn't it? Send her my regards." There's not a hint of his usual sarcasm in his words.

"Will do," he says and he means it. His mother absolutely adores Miyoshi even after all this time. Unlike his father. But that's a topic for another time.

"What about you? What are you doing here?"

"Just getting some shopping done." "Some" is an understatement. Sakuma could use these bags in his workouts. "I need to update my wardrobe for the upcoming season."

"Where are you headed then?"

"I'm waiting for Kaminaga right now. He wants to go eat somewhere; said something about needing a _'_ break,'" he says, making "break" sound like some kind of foreign concept.

"...How long have you been here?"

Miyoshi taps his chin.

"Since about eight."

The last he checked his watch, it read one o' clock.

"Hey, babe, you ready -- oh, Sakuma!"

Kaminaga claps his back, nearly sending the tower of bags in his arms tumbling over.

"What's up?"

"Sakuma has been a gentleman and has been holding my bags unlike _some_ people," Miyoshi answers in his stead. He doesn't mention the fact that he never offered in the first place, but whatever.

"I was in the bathroom! What did you want me to do?

"You could've carried them with you."

"While I did my business? Your clothes would get germs on them, you know."

Sakuma can only imagine the scene playing out with all these bags in the way, but it comes easily. As they banter, Miyoshi side eyes Kaminaga and gestures casually as if talking to someone unworthy of him whereas Kaminaga's face is as expressive as his voice, his hands accentuating whatever he's saying. Though their words are harsh, there's definitely hints of a smile on both of their faces. After many years, the thought of that doesn't really sting anymore.

"I'm sorry my boyfriend is so _rude_ , Sakuma," Kaminaga says as he takes the bags from him. He can see again.

"I was simply using his help," Miyoshi says. "Besides if you weren't gone, he wouldn't have needed to hold them."

"Ugh, can you believe this?"

Kaminaga pouts, exaggeratedly so, as he tries to find the most comfortable way to hold all the bags. Miyoshi, on the other hand, tries to look as innocent as possible. Sakuma looks back and forth between the two of them, a smile growing on his face.

"Yeah," he says, taking a few bags for himself. "I can."

* * *

They both insist he join them for lunch and he doesn't see why not, so he does. It shouldn't have taken a long time to find a place, but Miyoshi doesn't want to eat any "trashy foods" so they spend a while looking for somewhere he approves of. Other than that though, Sakuma enjoys the time spent with them.

"I'll help you look for a gift for your mom," Miyoshi says to him as they finish up eating.

"Really?"

"Really. Just tag along for a bit. I need to check out this one store first," he tells him.

It's not a lie when Miyoshi says "one store," but what he fails to mention is how many floors the store has.

(Four. It has four. Miyoshi goes through every floor. In depth. It's practically a mall within a mall.)

Right now, Sakuma sits in front of one of the dressing rooms of the store they've been in that entire afternoon. He slumps against the wall, with Kaminaga's head resting on his shoulder and his arm draped across his abdomen. Sakuma's own head lolls onto Kaminaga's. Neither of them speak, having used up their voices a while ago, but it's okay. They don't need words -- only the comfort that they bring each other.

"This comes in a few colors, but I'm not sure which one to get," Miyoshi says as he reappears, wearing some military style dress shirt. Sakuma and Kaminaga perk up ever so slightly.

"This is the green." He twirls around, showing off how the top looks on him. Then he takes it off right there and then, not caring about who else might be there. Sakuma averts his eyes as Miyoshi puts on the next shirt because he is a man of decency.

"And this is the blue." He twirls around once again and looks at them expectantly once he's finished his rotation.

"I think the green looks better," Kaminaga says first. "It makes your eyes pop."

Miyoshi turns his gaze to him then.

"Uh... the blue looks nice."

They both look good on him, but blue's always been his favorite color and he'd be lying if he says that seeing Miyoshi in blue doesn't make him happy.

"I see." Miyoshi folds the other shirt. "I'll be going with the red then."

Kaminaga groans, and the sound is only intensified since he's quite literally next to his ear. Miyoshi pays him no mind, but Sakuma swears he sees him smirking as he returns to the dressing room. Once he's gone, Kaminaga buries his face into Sakuma's shoulder, making a noise that sounds like a dying animal.

"Why, Sakuma? Why...?"

He pats Kaminaga’s head. He's not really sure how to answer.

* * *

 "Oh, I just remembered. There’s another store I’d like to stop by," Miyoshi says as he leads the two of them.

Sakuma and Kaminaga walk shoulder-to-shoulder, their steps sluggish and arms screaming in pain at the weight of all the bags they're holding. They've both learned to stop protesting against what Miyoshi wants ages ago, so they follow him, as tired as they are. Then Miyoshi stops suddenly and Sakuma nearly bumps into him.

"Your mom likes these kinds of things, right?"

The question confuses Sakuma, but then he looks up to see that they're in front of an antique store. He nods, practically shaking off all the heaviness he'd been feeling before.

"Why didn't you just buy her a dress at the store or something?" Kaminaga asks.

" _No_." Sakuma doesn't want to see that much fabric in one place for a long time.

It's a little difficult browsing through the store with all the bags in his hands, but fortunately Miyoshi has a good eye for items. And Kaminaga's there to make suggestions too, he supposes ("This looks cool!" "That's a demon mask." "How about this?" "Maybe. That doll looks kinda creepy, though." "Okay, but this definitely has character." "Please stop.").

After searching every corner of the store, he settles on a music box. The figure of a ballet dancer stands atop the stage and on the bottom, there's a key to twist that makes the ballerina along to the music. It's perfect and he's especially glad he got it because it's the only one there.

At long last, they leave the mall. Miyoshi strolls out empty handed while Kaminaga follows, carrying quadruple the bags they had since they started. Sakuma would help him, but his own hands are full.

"It was great seeing you, Sakuma," Miyoshi says. "Have a good night."

"Yeah! It's been nice hanging out with you today," Kaminaga says and he claps his back even though he's holding God-knows-how-many bags, sending the gift to the ground with an audible _crash_!

Silence. Then,

"Kaminaga!"

"Holy shit, I'm so sorry!"

Sakuma inhales and counts to ten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing fashionable characters when you know nothing about fashion is so difficult because you end up googling stuff like "men's fall fashion tops 2016," "men's fall fashion tops 2016 like the actual shirts," and "what do guys wear"
> 
> poor sakuma. unfortunately there's more suffering up ahead --


	3. hatoful (almost) boyfriends

Every morning, Sakuma gets up at six for his jog -- no exceptions. This particular morning, however, he wants nothing more than to curl up and stay in the warmth of his bed. His body feels like lead and his nose is runny, but he chalks that up to the changing seasons and the late night he's had. After telling himself over and over that what Kaminaga did was an accident, he's spent the night looking for a replacement gift and finally managed to find one well past midnight. Though he feels pretty crappy, he still drags himself out of bed because he knows that if he skips one day, he'll skip every day.

His jog starts off shaky, his legs unwilling to support him and his head light headed, but he steels himself and gets into the rhythm of things. The adrenaline also helps take his mind off how tired he feels, although barely. He keeps his pace nice and steady, but his breathing becomes ragged the longer he runs. By the time he's reached the park, he has to take it down a notch because it's too hard to concentrate.

"Excuse me," he says, as he nearly trips over someone. Or something, that is. It's a pigeon. He's just apologized to a pigeon.

As he regains his footing, he looks up and sees more pigeons. Now that's not weird because he lives in an urban area, but there's _pigeons_. Lots and lots of pigeons. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he follows the path of pigeons, and lo and behold -- there's Tazaki, pigeons resting on his outstretched arms and even more of them surrounding his feet.

"Good morning, Tazaki."

Tazaki turns to him, pigeon wings fluttering about and cooing intensifying. Around them, people are either ignoring him or giving him strange looks and taking pictures. Sakuma can only guess which ones don't come here often.

"Good morning, Sakuma. How's your jog?"

"Going well, thanks. Feeding the pigeons?"

"Yep." He smiles, and Sakuma envies how peaceful he looks. "I'm a bit stuck though. I still need to feed the others, but Shuu, Kazuaki, Hiyoko, and Nageki won't leave me alone."

Sakuma can't tell the difference among any of the pigeons, but he nods like he understands anyways.

"Could you hold them for a moment?"

"I don't know... I've never done this before."

"Don't worry about it. It's really easy."

Those words sound familiar and it takes all of Sakuma's willpower to resist speeding off. Tazaki isn't Jitsui, he tells himself. Tazaki wouldn't subject him to that kind of torture. Probably.

"Okay," he says, knowing he won't be able to get out of this one. "What do I do?"

"Just hold your arms out and stay still. They're very kind, but get agitated when you move too much."

He does as he's told and Tazaki closes the gap between their hands.

"You guys stay with Sakuma for a while, okay? I'll be right back."

The pigeons look at him like they're children being left at a daycare for the first time. They cock their heads at one another, before turning their beady, little eyes towards Sakuma. It really shouldn't be scary, but it's almost like they're sizing him up and deciding whether or not to poop on him.

They look at Tazaki again, as if asking him to reconsider. Tazaki only gives them a disappointed look. Like children scolded by their mother, they climb onto his arms one-by-one. They're not as heavy as he expects, but their talons pinch his skin and their wings flap into his face.

"Remember, you have to stay still."

He doesn't even realize he's fidgeting until Tazaki says that, but he tries to do so. They stop moving around, but he's almost positive their talons dig deeper into his skin.

"Great, just like that. Thanks, Sakuma! I'll make this quick."

"No problem." One of them's pecking at his arms. No, wait. Two of them actually. "Just do your thing."

It seems they must have different definitions of "quick.” As he feeds them, Tazaki talks to each and every single pigeon. Yes, every individual pigeon there is. And not like a "Hello, how are you?" but like a "Hello, I heard your mother died. How're you coping?" and somehow manages to have a full-fledged conversation. Meanwhile, Sakuma's arms have grown numb, though he's not sure if it's because of the weight, the talons digging deeper and deeper, or the beaks pecking at his skin. It's probably all three. He makes a mental note to ask Miyoshi for some scar creams.

When Tazaki's finished, Sakuma is more than glad to return them. His arms drop to his sides like falling sandbags and he hunches over like a stretched out rubber band that’s just been released. On the bright side, none of them pooped on him.

"For your first time, you handled them well," Tazaki says after he bids goodbye to his pigeons (which is equally as long as the conversations he had when he was feeding them). While he’s glad he didn’t screw anything up, Sakuma would rather not do that again. Like ever.

"Hey, you wanna go out to eat? Consider it my way of thanking you."

"Are you sure? I didn't really do much."

"Of course. I was gonna go get something anyways. The more, the merrier, right?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt. Lead the way then."

Tazaki gestures for him to follow but pauses.

"Oh, I should tell Amari you're coming."

"Amari?"

"Yeah, we get breakfast together sometimes. I'm sure he won't mind you being there."

As he takes his phone out, a smile grows on Tazaki's face. It's different than the one he has when he's with his pigeons -- this being more serene than some euphoric high. It's sort of infectious, seeing him like this now.

"Did something happen?" Tazaki asks him as he puts his phone away.

Sakuma wipes the grin off his face.

"It's nothing."

"If you say so. Let's go."

Tazaki brings him to a diner nearby and they're the first to arrive, but it's not long before Amari shows up with Emma. Or more like, Emma runs in with Amari in tow.

"Hello, Uncle Tazaki!" She rushes towards him and throws her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. Then to Sakuma, she waves and says in a less enthusiastic voice, "Hello, Uncle Sakuma!"

He tries not to be offended, because he really shouldn't be, but damn.

"Hey, guys." Amari joins them and he clutches onto the nearest seat, trying to get a hold of his breathing.

"What happened to you?" Tazaki asks.

"I'm okay. Emma was just really excited to get here." He pulls out the seat next to Sakuma.

"Papa! I wanna sit there."

Before he can say a word, she removes herself from Tazaki's hold and plops down into the chair. Amari ruffles her hair.

"You're just full of energy today, aren't you?"

She giggles, but otherwise says nothing else.

"It seems that we won't be having some alone time, Sakuma," Amari says, his voice teasing. "A shame too. I was looking forward to it."

"There'll be more opportunities in the future. Emma and I will have fun together until then, isn't that right?"

"That's right!"

Amari laughs as he takes his seat next to Tazaki.

"Just don't cause Uncle Sakuma too much trouble, okay, Emma?"

"Okay!"

The three of them settle into a conversation about their lives so far after they place their orders. He learns that Amari's been promoted and Emma will be starting school in the spring. Tazaki talks about his current project, which has something to do with trains and railroads, though Sakuma doesn't understand most of the engineering talk. His own life, he thinks, isn't very exciting, but Sakuma tells them about his week so far and he receives looks of sympathy from both of them.

"Jitsui told me he really likes how his latest chapter came out though. Good job," Tazaki says.

The memories come flooding in and it's only because Emma's at his side that he can stop the tears from falling.

"Thanks."

Soon enough, Amari and Tazaki take over the conversation, but Sakuma doesn't mind. Amari -- who's gotten so much more busy and stressed ever since he adopted Emma -- always eases up around Tazaki, and he gets this look in his eyes that he's never gotten with any of the women he's dated before. Meanwhile Tazaki becomes more animated around Amari. He doesn't wave his hands around like Kaminaga does, but he uses them to emphasize his words and his eyes are focused solely on Amari. It's quite interesting to see. Emma probably thinks so too, given how enthralled she is with watching them.

"Uncle Sakuma," she whispers to him.

"Yeah?"

"I have a secret~"

"Do you now?"

"Yeah! But you can't tell anyone about it."

"I won't."

"Pinky promise?" She extends her pinky to him.

"Pinky promise." He links his pinky with hers.

She motions for him to get closer and when he does, she cups her hands around his ear.

"Papa likes Uncle Tazaki."

He glances at them to see that they've moved closer together, whether they realize it or not. Amari's engrossed in whatever Tazaki's saying, nodding along and smiling. Honestly, if not for Emma, he'd feel like a major third wheel.

"No way."

"Yeah way! Remember, you can't tell anyone. Especially Papa! He doesn't know yet."

"What doesn't Papa know?"

Their heads snap towards Amari, who has an amused look on his face.

"I can't tell you. It's a secret!"

"Sorry, Amari." Sakuma shrugs. "I pinky promised her and you can't break a pinky promise."

Amari pouts, though there's a playful glint in his eyes.

"I suppose I'll have to find out myself."

Sakuma covers his snort up with a cough.

"Of course, Papa!"

The rest of the time goes by smoothly and Sakuma’s glad to have taken the time to catch up with them. By the time they're finishing up, though, the skies have turned gray and raindrops hit the windows with a light pitter-patter.

"That's weird," Sakuma says. "The forecast didn't say anything about rain."

"Pft. You listen to the forecast?" Tazaki asks.

Sakuma frowns because yes, he does listen to the forecast.

"I take it neither of you have an umbrella then," Amari says.

They both shake their heads.

"Looks like we'll have to wait it out."

"Don't you have a car?" asks Tazaki.

"Yeah, but we decided to take the train today."

"Well, it doesn't seem so bad," says Sakuma. "It's just a light drizzle. It shouldn't last long."

So of course the minute he says that, there’s a loud crack of thunder and lightning follows soon after. Emma clings to his arm as the rain hits harder and harder, sounding like they'll break the windows at any moment, and the roaring wind blows by, pushing the trees over outside, making them look like they’ll fall over.

The three of them share a look, the same thing going through their minds but can't be said out loud because they're in the presence of a child.

_Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i really love amataza!!!!  
> me, trying to write amataza:
> 
> I feel like I don't have a good grasp on either of them yet somehow this is longest chapter???? cool i guess haha
> 
> Fun fact: Tazaki's pigeons are named after characters from Hatoful Boyfriend (i haven't played that yet either lol). I feel like Hatoful Boyfriend would be Tazaki's favorite game hehe
> 
> onwards~


	4. odapapa and fukumama

_ Achoo! _

"Bless you."

_ Achoo! _

"Bless you. "

_ Achoo! _

"Bless you. Sakuma, are you okay?"

Sakuma looks at Odagiri, a difficult feat since he can barely keep his eyes open and when they  _ are _ open, it stings like crazy. He opens his mouth to answer, but he ends up coughing instead. When he finally recovers, he nods his head, though it causes the room to spin.

"I'm fine," he croaks out, the phlegm in his throat making his voice raspy. He is, however, completely not fine.

He, Amari, and Tazaki had decided to wait out the rain but after a few hours, it didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon. With no umbrellas or a car to use, they chose to brave the storm. It was as terrible as it sounded. They had to see Amari and Emma off to the train station, which was in the opposite direction of where he lived. Then Tazaki wanted to calm down the pigeons that got caught in the storm ( _ apparently _ they were panicking). And that’s not to mention that it was a good half hour to even get back to his apartment and that was if he ran on a good day.

To say the least, Sakuma's been running on cold medicine for the past two days (though he's still waiting for it to actually work).

Odagiri only squints at his response, but doesn't say anything otherwise. He's glad for that though, because all he wants to do is get his work done without people fussing over him.

"So this is all you have for the report?" Odagiri asks.

"Yeah." He stifles a cough before continuing. "Karl Schneider, age twenty-eight, was found dead in his girlfriend's apartment. What appears to be a suicide letter was found at the scene, but we have reason to believe there's foul play involved."

Once he finishes his report, he breaks into a coughing fit.

"Do you want to take an early break?"

"No --"  _ Cough _ . "-- I'll be okay. It's just allergies."  _ Cough, cough _ . "You need to get started on the case."

Odagiri gives him a look before giving the file report a once over. Then, he closes the manilla folder and gets up from his seat.

"We're taking a break."

Before he can protest, Odagiri shoves his jacket into his hands.

"I'm sure Fukumoto has something that'll help you."

He really shouldn't -- as he has other things to do at work -- but he can't bring himself to argue and so he lets Odagiri lead him.

Neither of them talk on the way there, Odagiri supporting him as best he can, but he welcomes the silence. Not only would he been unable to keep up with a conversation, but it's just how Odagiri is and he likes Odagiri. That's not to say that he doesn't like the others, but Odagiri is sane. He'd say Fukumoto is sane too, but he remembers that one time Fukumoto pretended to be two different guys as an elaborate plot to get someone fired and he's never seen him the same way since. Sure, Odagiri is way more expressive through text, but his quiet company is a nice break from how hectic everyone else is.

When they arrive at Fukumoto's bar, there's no one else around save for Fukumoto himself. He's in the middle of rearranging the glasses when he sees them.

"You guys are early today."

"It's a slow day," Sakuma says at the same time Odagiri says, "He's sick."

Sakuma glares at him to which he just shrugs as he takes his seat.

"If you're sick, then you should be in bed," Fukumoto says.

"It's not that bad." He does his best to suppress his cough to prove his point.

The look Fukumoto gives him tells him that he doesn't buy his words one bit.

"At least let me make you something."

"I would appreciate that."

As Fukumoto goes off to prepare him something, Sakuma rests his head on the counter. It does little to help him, but it's some sort of relief. Fortunately, Fukumoto is quick and sets a glass in front of him.

"Here you go."

He doesn't mean to grimace, but the drink looks like one of his mother's herbal remedies and those are things he could live his entire life without. Still, he doesn't to waste Fukumoto's help.

Grabbing the glass, he takes a breath. Then he chugs the entire drink in one go. It's thick and chunky, making it difficult to swallow, but the coolness helps relieve the burning in his throat. It also creates a tingly sensation in his mouth, but he doesn't think much of it.

"It'll be a while before it works, so just take it easy."

"I will. Thank you."

And so he waits, just sitting in his seat with his head back on the counter. He hears Odagiri and Fukumoto talking, but he can't comprehend any of it at the moment. The burning sensation returns to his throat and his mouth itches. His stomach also feels queasy, but he doesn't think he'll throw up. Moreover, all the aches and pains in his body are much more harder to ignore now that he's not moving around. He doesn't know how long it's been, but he certainly doesn't feel any better.

"We should get going," he hears Odagiri say. His voice sounds faint though, and he almost doesn't hear it in the first place.  

“Right,” he says as he lifts his head up, dizziness washing over him.

“Are you feeling good enough to go back, Sakuma?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Sakuma picks his body up though it's like gravity is pulling him back down. He's lost feeling in his feet and black dots dance around his vision. As he gets up, he stumbles but Odagiri catches him.

"Do you want to go home? I'll let the others know you're not feeling well."

"No, it's okay."  _ Cough _ . "I'll be fine once we get back."

Without waiting for him to respond, Sakuma steps forward. Then suddenly, numbness takes over his body and his legs give way. The floor grows closer and closer and the last thing he hears before blacking out is his name. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aah not as long or humorous as the others, but ah well ;;
> 
> :ooooooooo what will happen to sakuma-san????????? i guess we'll find out


	5. why are you all in my house

When Sakuma wakes up, his heart nearly pops out of his chest before he realizes that he's in his bedroom. The lights are off, but he hears faint sounds from outside. Even though his body feels heavy and he wants to stay longer in his bed, he throws his covers off and attempts to stand up. He lives alone, so unless he's hearing things now, he needs to make sure no one's broken into his home or whatever. His trips over his feet and needs to take a break after each step, but thankfully the kitchen isn't far.

"Fukumoto?" It still hurts to even say one word, but less so than before.

"Oh, you're awake," he says, glancing up from the vegetables he's chopping. "I'm making you something. No peanuts this time. Sorry about that."

His eyebrows furrow at the mention of "peanuts," but then it clicks.

"It's not your fault. I never told you I was allergic to them."

"You passed out."

"Not because of the drink," he says, although he's pretty sure it does have something to do with it. "I'll admit I should've taken better care of myself."

"Yeah, you should've," Fukumoto says, sounding like his mother when she chides him. "Just rest for now. It'll be a while before the food is ready."

He gladly does as he's told, taking a seat at the dining table, but it's in that moment that the doorbell rings. He looks at Fukumoto, who doesn't seem startled by it.

"I'll get that," he says as he cleans his hands. If he were feeling any better, Sakuma would insist he get it because it's his home, but he's not. So he just rests his head on the table, thanking whatever gods there are for Fukumoto.

"Yo!"

It takes Sakuma a moment to realize Kaminaga is in his apartment. Before he can ask why he's there, Kaminaga claps his back, sending him into a coughing fit.

"Careful," Fukumoto says as he returns to his cooking.

"Yeah, yeah." Kaminaga waves him off. "Sakuma, how're you feeling? That fall didn't look too good."

"I'm good, but --" _Cough_. " -- what about a fall?"

Kaminaga takes his phone out and pulls up the group chat.

At least Amari's concerned.

"We all thought it’d be a good idea to visit you, just to see how you’re doing. The others should be coming soon, but in the meantime --" He takes out a plastic bag and dumps the contents, soda cans and junk food spilling out onto the table. "-- I got you all this!"

"He's sick, Kaminaga," says Fukumoto. "He needs to eat healthy."

"To be healthy, you need to take care of yourself physically _and_ mentally, no? I got him all his favorites. That'll lift his spirits for sure!"

Fukumoto stares at him.

"Okay, but he can only have them after he eats something solid."

"Nice." Kaminaga grins and opens up one of the soda cans. He probably got half the stuff for himself.

The doorbell rings again and this time Kaminaga gets it. The quiet only lasts but a few moments before Hatano and Jitsui come in.

"Hey, Sakuma. Feeling better?" Hatano says as he places a plastic bag on the table.

"Hey, guys. I'm doing better."

"That's good to hear," Jitsui says, taking a seat across from him. "That fall didn't look too pleasant."

"Yeah." He looks into the distance. "I've heard."

"Oi, Kaminaga! What's all this?" Hatano gestures towards at all the stuff on the table. "I said I was gonna get these for Sakuma."

"Well _I_ said I was gonna pick him up some stuff first, so you should've expected that."

"Listen, you freakin' --"

"Ignore them," Jitsui says, redirecting Sakuma's attention to him. Then he slides a magazine towards him. _Tulip_ , the cover reads. It sounds familiar, but he can't remember where he heard it from.

"The latest chapter of _Gaimu_ is in here --" Now he remembers. Sakuma would've thrown himself out the nearest window if he had the energy to do so. "-- and I know you don't really read manga, but I thought you'd like to see the fruits of your labor."

"Labor" is one way to describe it.

Jitsui flips open the pages, opening it right smack in the scene where Kouta and Mitsuzane are arguing over Mai's fate. The image of Mitsuzane stabbing Kouta stares at him and seeing it makes his fingers twitch. This is only the least bloody of the pages.

"I've heard a lot of positive feedback about how everything came out. Maybe you should consider helping me out more often."

 _No!_ he wants to shout, but instead he coughs and puts on a smile to the best of his abilities.

"I'll think about it."

Jitsui smiles back and pats his hand, sending chills down his spine.

"I'll hold you to that."

Oh, he's screwed.

"Uncle Sakuma! Other uncles, hello!"

Suddenly, Emma comes rushing in and he's never been so glad to see her in his life. He's only barely able to catch her in time when she jumps up to hug him.

"Be careful, Emma. Uncle Sakuma is still sick," Amari calls after her. Then to them, he says, "Good evening, Sakuma, Jitsui. It's good to see that you're awake now, Sakuma."

"Uncle Sakuma!" Emma interrupts him before he can respond to Amari. "I made you something." She shoves a piece of paper into his face. "Open it!"

At her urging, he does so.

 

Sakuma looks up. Emma beams at him, but he sees Jitsui still giving him that smile of his and he abandons all hope. He's sorry he'll make Emma sad.

"Thank you, Emma. I feel better already."

"Yay!"

She gives him another hug before running off to the others, leaving him alone with Jitsui again. Thankfully the gods have mercy on him and Tazaki shows up next.

"Oh, Sakuma," he says as he walks in, greeting the others along the way. "I didn't think you would be awake yet."

"I haven't been awake too long."

"Well it's a good thing you are." He pulls out what look like to be eggs from his pockets. "These are better fresh, you know?"

"Just what exactly are those?" Jitsui asks.

"Pigeon eggs," he says matter-of-factly. "They're good for improving your immune system. I'll help Fukumoto cook them for you."

"Tazaki, that sounds like complete bullshit," Hatano says.

"You just have no appreciation!"

The last to show up are Odagiri, who's somehow managed to get out of work early, and Miyoshi, who's been busy working on a commission.

"Hello, Sakuma. It's good to see that you're up now. " Miyoshi takes a seat next to him. Then to the others he says, "You guys are so noisy that I can hear you from the hallway. Aren't you supposed to be taking care of him?"

"We are!" Kaminaga says. "See, we got him all this stuff and Fukumoto's cooking for him. What did _you_ get him, hm?"

"My presence, of course." He rolls his eyes. "Can't you see how much better he looks now that I'm here?"

As they begin their bantering, Odagiri takes this time to talk to him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel better now."

He gives him a look.

"Really! I mean it." He coughs, which doesn't really help back up his words.

Odagiri takes him in for a moment, then places a hand on his shoulder.

"As long as you don't push yourself too hard anymore."

"I won’t,” he says, placing his own hand on Odagiri’s. “How's the case going?"

Odagiri tells him about what they've discovered so far, but he's only half listening to it -- partially because of the throbbing in his head and partially because he's distracted by Fukumoto as he sets up the table. He does his best not to interrupt them or bother anyone else as he goes about this. Emma sees him and insists that she helps, so he gives her some plates to carry. Though the table's fairly small, Fukumoto manages to fit different kinds of dishes and ten plates on it.

"Dinner's ready, guys."

As soon as Fukumoto announces that, everyone rushes towards the table. It takes them an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure out the seating arrangements (only so many people can fit in four chairs), but they eventually work something out. Once they're all seated, they clap their hands together.

"Let's eat!"

To be honest, Sakuma can barely keep up with all the activity going on. It's hard to follow along with the conversations the others are having and all their moving around creates a feeling of vertigo. On top of that, he can't taste a damn thing, which is a shame given how good the food looks. But despite all that, Sakuma feels good. Seeing all his friends together like this, laughing and having a good time, makes the pain more bearable. It feels like such a long time since they’ve been together like this too, making everything so much better.

Their time together ends all too quickly and soon enough, they're all finished. Everyone moves to do their part in cleaning up, and Sakuma stands up to help them, but Fukumoto stops him.

"You should get some rest now."

"You guys have already done a lot for me. This is my place anyways, I should be the one cleaning up."

"Yeah, but you're  _sick_."

"But --"

"Don't worry about a thing," Miyoshi says. "Just go and get some sleep now. We'll see ourselves out. You still keep the spare key under the mat, right?"

Hatano snorts.

"You're a pretty simple guy, Sakuma, but I didn't think you'd actually be the type to do that."

Sakuma purses his lips. Maybe he should move it underneath the potted plant then.

"Do you need help getting to bed?" Fukumoto asks.

"No, I can get there myself."

He begins making his way to his room, his steps less clumsy now, then turns back to the others when he gets to the door.

"Thank you all for coming over. I really appreciate it."

There's a chorus of "Take care!"s and "Feel better!"s and he's pretty sure he hears one "Don't die!" He waves goodbye to them and closes the door behind him, the sounds of his friends becoming muffled.

Sakuma practically throws himself onto his bed, which is a bad decision because now the room is spinning again. He groans as he wraps himself up in his covers, trying to figure out a comfortable position. Once he's done with that, he lays there -- tired, but not tired enough to sleep yet. He can still hear his friends chattering outside and Sakuma can't help but smile. They're definitely a handful, but at the same time he can't imagine a life without them --

_Crash!_

"Kaminaga!"

"What're you yelling at me for? It wasn't me this time, it was Hatano!"

"Don't blame me for this, jackass. It was all you!"

Sakuma sighs, burrowing himself deeper into his covers. He can't deal with this right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise!!! this was a sick fic all along haha
> 
> This somehow managed to be a terror to write, but it was also really fun hehe aah anyways, thank you all for reading this far!! \\(◡̈)/♥︎
> 
> Feel free to talk to me on my [tumblr](https://dollofdeath.tumblr.com) or my [twitter](https://twitter.com/nighthawkstars)! I hope you all have a wonderful day/night~! ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪


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